That said, rewards certainly need to be personalised. After all, personalisation is what takes care of our humanly expectations in times of set processes and automation of almost everything else.

Conventional reward mechanisms following the 'one size fits all' approach do not allow organisations to provide unique experiences to employees

A reward is a gift, a token of appreciation or more importantly, a message that lets the receivers know that they are valued. However, if not chosen carefully or personalised to match the liking or expectations of the receivers, the real purpose behind rewarding fades out, reducing it to a mere formality. And, neither organisations nor employees want that. Organisations these days cannot afford to casually offer generic rewards for performance as not everyone may feel motivated with the same thing.

That said, the biggest challenge with rewards has always been tailoring rewards while ensuring scalability. Richard Lobo, executive vice-president and head-HR, Infosys says, “As an organisation of over 200,000 globally distributed, diverse and mobile employees, we require a rewards mechanism that is personalised, customised and scalable.”

He further shares that the challenge with conventional reward mechanisms is that the 'one size fits all' approach doesn’t allow them to provide unique experiences to employees. This is why, they needed newer mechanisms to recognise employees under various categories of achievements and customise the rewards accordingly, based on their preference of type of award.

“With this challenge in mind, we designed multiple rewards and recognition modules to ensure greater impact, increase productivity and reduce attrition,” he adds. Lobo elaborates that their rewards plan, Infy Gold+ is the solution that addresses all of these challenges.

Explaining how it benefits them, Lobo says, “At Infosys, we believe in a high-performance work ethic, and reward employees through a range of monetary and non-monetary rewards. While we have multiple ways of recognition, InfyGold+ is the central pool, and is a unique, multi-partner employee discount programme.”

Through this programme, registered Infoscions are offered discounts across 2000+ brands, specially curated for them, in retail, hotel, travel, electronics and other sectors. They avail these unique offers by downloading coupons online, using their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and so on. Employees are rewarded redeemable InfyGold+ points, for excellence in their projects.

At Infosys, we believe in a high-performance work ethic, and reward employees through a range of monetary and non-monetary rewards. While we have multiple ways of recognition, InfyGold+ is the central pool, and is a unique, multi-partner employee discount programme.”

This way, not only do the employees enjoy freedom of choice, but it takes customisation of rewards to the next level. This programme is also extended to the family members of the employees. Lobo shares that the uniqueness of InfyGold+ is that it allows employees to decide what they want as a reward and how and when they want to use it.

Additionally, the 'Insta' awards at Infosys, tied with InfyGold+, enables peer-to-peer recognition through instant allocation of points, therefore fostering a culture of collaboration.

Finally, they have a robust framework that rewards long service with a box of goodies, mementos and InfyGold+ points for a considerable tenure at Infosys. This programme has been appreciated by the employees and their families as a source of pride.

“Given the dynamic nature of the industry and our workforce, it's essential that we recognise what motivates employees and design our programmes accordingly,” Lobo opines. In line with that, Infosys applied design thinking principles and keen observation to arrive at a rewards framework that is best-in-class and provides the desired impact. “We evolved this framework over time to suit our employees' needs, while factoring in their feedback. Additionally, with the influx of a millennial workforce, we need to recognise that cash rewards may not be the only motivator,” Lobo adds.

He further recommends that designing educational programmes that help employees reskill, motivating the management sector with exclusive leadership programmes and charting employee career growth is what will keep employees interested in the long run.

“At the core, freedom of choice and a rewards and recognition module that caters to a diverse workforce is the key,” Lobo concludes.

That said, rewards certainly need to be personalised. After all, personalisation is what takes care of our humanly expectations in times of set processes and automation of almost everything else. While this may have also been automated, just as various other areas, here also technology is helping make the processes individual specific, yet efficient and scalable. And organisations are sure to see increasing benefit from the same in the times to come.